Minor setback rules Town defender out for a few weeks as Wilshere provides injury update

Defender Hakeem Odoffin has suffered a minor setback in his bid to return to first team action for the Hatters.

The 27-year-old was signed by previous boss Matt Bloomfield on a free transfer from Rotherham United in the summer, but joined with a non-musculoskeletal issue that required surgery and saw him ruled out until October 25 when he first ventured onto the field in a Town shirt as a second half substitute for Luton’s 1-0 win at Northampton Town, new boss Jack Wilshere’s second game in charge.

Odoffin was able to play a part in the next five league squads, with two starts, before missing out on three games with a slight knock and then featuring for the final 14 minutes of the 4-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers on Boxing Day. However, he hasn’t played since and now faces another short spell on the sidelines, with Wilshere saying: “Haks has had a little bit of a setback, which is frustrating for him and frustrating for us.

"As you can see in the two games, Huddersfield and Bolton when he came into the team, the energy he brought and he’s a warrior who can definitely help the team and give something. It will be weeks rather than months but we need to take our time with him because he came back, then got injured, then he came back and we put him on the pitch which maybe was a little bit too soon, but I was eager to get him on the pitch and get him going again, so we have to make sure we get this one right.

“I think also the the fans when they see the way he plays, they can identify themselves with what Luton is about. So it’s frustrating for him, frustrating for us, but I said to him the other day, he’s left people with enough desire to see him go again and wanting more from him. He’ll be fine, he won’t be too long”

Another who has been ruled out of tomorrow’s home contest with promotion-chasing Lincoln City is Izzy Jones, the winger, who has been restricted to just four league games this term, scoring one and grabbing one assist, unable to feature since the 5-0 loss at Barnsley almost two months ago now. Wilshere continued: “Izzy’s a little bit closer, Izzy’s on the grass now. Izzy’s been out for a long time now and that’s why it’s probably taken a bit longer for him to come back, but he won’t be too far.”

Meanwhile, having made seven changes for Tuesday night’s Vertu Trophy tie with Swindon Town, resting the majority of the team who beat Stevenage 2-1 this time last weekend, apart from Christ Makosso, Nigel Lonwijk, Lamine Fanne and Emilio Lawrence, then Wilshere is hopeful he will have some selection posers to solve when going up against the Red Imps, adding: “Ali (Al-Hamadi) and Elijah (Adebayo) are closer, they’ve been on the grass this week which is amazing for everyone to see and I think it gives everyone a lift.

"Teds (Teden Mengi) missed last week, he’s been on the grass. Kal (Naismith) and Jake (Richards) have been on the grass, they were on the grass last week so they’re a little bit closer, we’ll have to see how they are going into tomorrow. Also the team performed really well on Saturday, especially in the second half, so some decisions for me to make, so let’s see what the team looks like tomorrow.”